25: A subordinate sect can even slay immortals!

The night was as dark as ink, and the moonlight, like water, spilled over the eaves of the Listening to the Waves Pavilion.

Chu Xuanjin sat alone by the stone table in the courtyard, twirling a black jade chess piece in his hand, lost in thought as he faced the empty chessboard.

Ye Chenfeng sat quietly in a corner of the courtyard, his Sword Intent restrained, blending into the night.

Su Linger and Wang Duojin had long since returned to their rooms, digesting the shock of the day.

A light sound of footsteps approached from outside the courtyard.

The person did not attempt to conceal their movements; their steps were steady, and their Aura was restrained to the extreme.

"Junior Yun Tianqing, for disturbing you late at night, I hope Senior Chu will forgive me."

Yun Tianqing's figure appeared at the courtyard entrance. He was alone, having changed out of his ornate Sect Master robes into simple cyan Daoist robes, and he bowed deeply to Chu Xuanjin.

Chu Xuanjin's gaze shifted from the chessboard and landed on him.

"Sect Master Yun, what important matter brings you here?"

Yun Tianqing straightened up and walked slowly to the stone table. He did not sit down but instead made another deep bow.

"Junior has not come to apologize, but to seek a way to survive."

His voice was soft, yet every word was clear.

Chu Xuanjin looked at him without speaking, merely making a gesture of "please" to signal him to sit.

Yun Tianqing then took a seat opposite Chu Xuanjin, his expression solemn.

"Senior must already be aware that the Eastern Desolate Region is currently surging with undercurrents, and the incident with the Blazing Fire Sect is merely the beginning."

He gave a bitter smile.

"My Qingyun Sword Sect may appear glorious, but in reality, we are treading on thin ice. Although I have the cultivation of the Early Soul Transformation Stage, I can only barely hold on. If a great Chaos is coming, the thousand-year foundation of the Qingyun Sword Sect may be destroyed in an instant."

(PS: Sect Master Yun is in the Early Soul Transformation Stage, the Blazing Fire Sect is in the Void Refining stage.)

As he spoke, he raised his head and looked at Chu Xuanjin with burning eyes.

"Junior dares to be bold and has come here... to find a big tree for my Qingyun Sword Sect to rely on."

He did not beat around the bush and laid his intentions bare.

The chess piece in Chu Xuanjin's hand rotated slowly between his fingers.

He looked at the Qingyun Sect Master before him, thoughts turning in his mind.

This Yun Tianqing was indeed a smart man.

He knew when to lower his head and knew who to lower it to.

Aside from a few fools, the atmosphere of the entire Qingyun Sword Sect was actually quite decent.

It would be appropriate to accept them as a subsidiary Sect.

They could handle some mundane matters for him, and also serve as eyes and ears for the Myriad Dao Divine Sect in this Eastern Desolate Region.

"You want the Qingyun Sword Sect to become a vassal of my Myriad Dao Divine Sect?" Chu Xuanjin asked indifferently.

"Yes!"

Yun Tianqing answered without hesitation.

"Junior is willing to follow the lead of the Myriad Dao Divine Sect and obey Senior's orders!"

Hearing this, Chu Xuanjin let out a light laugh.

He gently placed the black piece in his hand onto the Tianyuan position of the chessboard.

"Sect Master Yun, do you know what the word 'vassal' implies?"

Yun Tianqing felt a shiver in his heart.

"Junior knows. It means handing over part of the Sect's authority, and it means that in future actions, the orders of the Myriad Dao Divine Sect must come first."

"That is not enough."

Chu Xuanjin shook his head.

He raised his eyes and gazed calmly at Yun Tianqing.

"I ask you, do you have the courage to hand over the thousand-year Legacy of your Qingyun Sword Sect with both hands?"

Boom!

This sentence, like a bolt of Nine Heavens divine thunder, struck hard into Yun Tianqing's Sea of Consciousness.

The color drained from his face instantly.

A thousand-year Legacy!

That was the root of a Sect, the soul of a Sect!

It was the Cultivation Technique, the sword techniques, the crystallization of the hard work of generations of Ancestral Masters!

Handing over the Legacy meant that the Qingyun Sword Sect would have no more secrets to speak of, completely reduced to someone else's vassal, with no possibility of ever making a comeback!

His hands, under the stone table, clenched involuntarily.

Cold sweat slowly slid down his temples.

Chu Xuanjin did not urge him, just watched him quietly, as if enjoying an interesting play.

A long time passed.

Yun Tianqing's Adam's apple bobbed, and with a hoarse voice, he asked a question he most wanted to know, and also most feared.

"Junior... dares to ask Senior."

"What level of Realm has Senior's cultivation truly reached?"

This question would decide whether he would gamble the fate of his entire Sect.

Hearing this, Chu Xuanjin put down the chess piece in his hand.

He did not answer directly, but picked up the cold tea on the table and took a light sip.

Then, in a casual tone as if he were discussing the weather, he said something that shattered Yun Tianqing's Divine Soul.

"Even an Immortal can be slain."

Immortal! Can! Also! Be! Slain!

Four words, like four supreme Dao swords, instantly pierced through Yun Tianqing's mental defenses.

He had not yet recovered from the boundless fear brought by these four words.

A terrifying Aura, impossible to describe with any words, descended directly into his Sea of Consciousness without any warning!

That was not spiritual power pressure, nor was it the oppression of Aura.

That was a higher-level crushing force that acted directly upon the Origin of the Divine Soul!

Before Yun Tianqing's eyes, the world disappeared.

In its place was an endless Chaos.

He saw a Dharma Form whose magnificence could not be described; that Dharma Form sat cross-legged in the midst of Chaos, and with the opening and closing of its eyes, the sun and moon were born and perished, and stars fell.

(PS: It's normal for the protagonist's supreme Cultivation Technique to have some tricks, right?)

He felt that his Divine Soul, in front of this Dharma Form, was so insignificant that it couldn't even be counted as a speck of dust.

It felt as if with just one thought from the other party, his Soul Transformation Dao Fruit, cultivated through hundreds of years of hard work, would instantly disintegrate and turn into nothingness.

He saw mountains of corpses and seas of blood, saw Immortals bleeding, saw the Major Thousand Worlds shattering like glass.

That was a terrifying scene he could not understand or imagine.

"No—!"

He wanted to roar, but could not make any sound.

He wanted to struggle, but his Divine Soul was firmly nailed in place, unable to move.

The coldness of death completely submerged him.

He did not know how long had passed; perhaps it was only an instant, or perhaps ten thousand years.

That earth-shattering Aura quietly receded like a tide.

"Thump!"

Yun Tianqing's body slid from the stone stool and collapsed onto the ground.

He gasped for air, his whole body soaked in cold sweat, as if he had just been fished out of water.

He looked at Chu Xuanjin, and that gaze was no longer awe.

It was looking at a god, looking at a demon, looking at the Heavenly Dao that dominated everything!

He finally understood how ridiculous his previous probings were.

His Soul Transformation cultivation, which he was so proud of, probably didn't even count as a slightly stronger ant in front of the other party.

"Now, have you felt it?"

Chu Xuanjin's voice remained indifferent.

Yun Tianqing struggled, using all his strength to crawl up from the ground.

He did not sit down again but performed a full prostration to Chu Xuanjin.

This was the highest etiquette performed only by a Disciple paying respects to an Ancestral Master, or a Mortal kowtowing to a deity.

"Junior... Junior knows they were wrong."

His voice trembled due to extreme fear.

"Senior, this matter is of great importance, and Junior... Junior needs to go back and discuss it with the Sect Elders."

"Very well."

Chu Xuanjin waved his hand.

"I will give you three days."

"Thank you, Senior!"

Yun Tianqing felt as if he had been granted amnesty; he dared not stay for another moment, scrambled up using his hands and feet, and stumbled out of the Listening to the Waves Pavilion.

His retreating figure was full of panic and embarrassment.

The courtyard returned to silence once again.

Ye Chenfeng walked out from the corner; he looked at Yun Tianqing's dejected retreating figure, then looked at his Revered Master, his eyes filled with unshakeable adoration.

Chu Xuanjin picked up his teacup and looked at the black piece on the Tianyuan position of the chessboard, the corners of his mouth curling into an imperceptible arc.

...

That night.

Qingyun Sword Sect, Sect Master Hall, brightly lit.

All the Elders remaining in the Sect, whether they were in seclusion or out on patrol, were summoned here by an emergency order from the Sect Master.

Inside the hall, the atmosphere was so heavy it was almost dripping.

Yun Tianqing sat upright on the Sect Master's throne; his face was still pale, but in those eyes burned an unprecedented flame.

He looked at the whispering Elders below, who were full of confusion, and spoke slowly.

His voice spread to every corner of the hall.

"Everyone, I have summoned you here today for only one matter."

"I have decided that from today onwards, my Qingyun Sword Sect will merge into the Myriad Dao Divine Sect and become a subsidiary Sect under it."

As his voice fell.

The entire hall was in an uproar!